Health and Development

NewsParents and FamiliesSuccessful Students

A Decade of Togetherness

The sun dips lower in the sky on a hazy evening in late August, casting a warm golden hue across the football field at Yoncalla High School. The hum of excited chatter sets the scene, and children laugh and play. As the night unfolds, the sounds of music from a live band dance through the air as families mingle and children savor the remaining sunlight, on the cusp of a new school year. Framed by a stunning view of the Umpqua Valley, Yoncalla’s annual community barbecue has become a symbol of togetherness, woven into the fabric of the town. 

Health and Development NewsOregon ResearchWhat We're Reading

Early School Success Leadership Camp 2023

Yesterday, Early School Success teams from four school districts across Oregon met up for a first-of-its-kind leadership camp hosted by Children's Institute. Throughout the day, educators and administrators explored methods for creating change at the school and district levels while examining perspectives on identity, collaboration, and psychological safety. Together, these dedicated early education professionals are reshaping their school communities to make a positive impact on children. Read the full story to learn more.

This image shows a room filled with educators in the CI Early School Success programs across Oregon.
Oregon ResearchHealth and DevelopmentPodcast Equity

Taking Action to Improve Social Emotional Services for Young Children: The Power of Data and Metrics

This is a special production created with our colleagues at the Oregon Pediatric Improvement Partnership (OPIP). OPIP is a public private partnership seeking to create a meaningful, long-term collaboration of stakeholders invested in child health care quality, with the common purpose of improving the health of all children and youth in Oregon. This episode explores recent developments in the health sector here in Oregon meant to improve the care for children ages zero to five.

This is a graphic announcing a new podcast about social emotional health metrics and data for Oregon's children.
Health and DevelopmentHome VisitingParents and FamiliesPodcast

Home Visiting Provides Personalized Care to New Parents & Strengthens Families

On this episode of The Early Link Podcast, our host Rafael Otto speaks with Jennifer Gould who currently works as a Nurse Home Visitor for the Nurse Family Partnership program with the Multnomah County Health Department. The Nurse Family Partnership is a community based, public health program with 45 years of research showing evidence of significant improvements in the health and lives of first-time moms and their children affected by social and economic inequality. 

Brain DevelopmentEducators and WorkforceHealth and Development

Setting the Record Straight on Social-Emotional Learning: A Teacher’s Perspective

Social-emotional learning (SEL) has been in the news a lot lately, and this recent surge of news about SEL has come with a good deal of misinformation. In this blog series, we’ll attempt to set the record straight on SEL by exploring the benefits and importance of SEL for young children, highlighting its recent politicization, and understanding what polling tells us about the best way to communicate with parents about the topic.

Social-Emotional Learning in the classroom
Educators and WorkforceHealth and DevelopmentSuccessful Students

Setting the Record Straight on Social-Emotional Learning: The Business Case for SEL

Just as early childhood advocates frequently cite the economic case for early learning, proponents of SEL shouldn’t shy away from making the case that teaching social-emotional skills to young children makes good business sense. There are a lot of important reasons for teaching these skills starting at a young age and the fact that these skills will make it easier down the road for students to succeed in the workplace is a fact worth highlighting.

Social-Emotional Learning Blog 3
Brain DevelopmentHealth and DevelopmentParents and Families

Setting the Record Straight on Social-Emotional Learning: What Do Parents Think?

Social-emotional learning has become a big buzzword and a big industry in recent years. The term has been around for a couple of decades, but around 2015 it really took off. What wasn’t clear to us is what parents thought of this new fad in education, so we worked with the global polling firm YouGov to conduct this survey.

Social-Emotional Learning Blog 2